Jacob Wallace qualifies for the NCAA Championships

Samuel Barber
MSMU Class of 2022

(4/2022) At some point in every athlete’s quest for greatness, there is the dream of competing at the highest level. If it is in high school, then it is a state championship. If it is in college, then it is the NCAA Championships. However, if an athlete plays their cards right, then they could reach the pinnacle of success at the international level. For Mount St. Mary’s swimmer Jacob Wallace, he accomplished a feat that scores of people merely dream of, which is competing at the NCAA Division-I Swimming & Diving Championships. Not only was it an incredible milestone for the Mount and Wallace, but it also highlighted the rising versatility within the sport of swimming & diving in the Northeast Conference (NEC).

One of the most exciting features that Wallace brings to the table is the fact that he is only a sophomore, which makes the likelihood of him accomplishing this staggering feat even lower. The Fulton, MD native realistically has three more years of eligibility remaining at the NCAA-level of competition.

While many people who have an ‘outside looking in’ perspective of Wallace’s growth may be surprised by the rising star’s tremendous leap in success, he most certainly is not. Despite almost everyone in his life playing a role in propelling Wallace to NCAA’s, there is one person in particular who has served not only as a coach but also a beacon of success: that would be assistant coach Kaleb Wylie. During a Mar. 9 interview with Wallace, he held Wylie in high-regard: "Going from being a freshman to a sophomore has been a tremendous journey and some of the hardest and most gracious times of my life… one of the biggest attributes to my success is assistant coach Kaleb Wylie. With all the trouble this team has had, he has given me the most growth as a competitor and swimmer," he said.

Along with second-year assistant in Wylie, Mount St. Mary’s is led by the likes of 16th-year head coach Neil Yost, fourth-year assistant Marissa Frollo, and Diving Coach Noah Ehrenberg. With their expertise, Wallace is certainly not lacking the necessary resources to find himself success.

Although success relies heavily on the athlete, especially when wanting to reach the highest levels of competition, having a reliable coach and a stable level of teammate backing can sometimes mean all the difference. The latter is what proved to be yet another driving force in Wallace’s breakthrough season, whether it was from the day-to-day practices or during weekend-long competitions. The team-like atmosphere has been quite apparent throughout his two years in Emmitsburg: "Most of my close friends really give me confidence and the courage to give it my all every turn. I believe this team can continuously get better and grow throughout the years," according to Wallace.

Being able to compete with some of the best in the sport is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. However, when an athlete rises to the occasion and does just that, a sense of pride becomes present within them; not only for their respective school but for their respective conference as well. A championship event like NCAA’s becomes a display of pageantry that showcases the best of the best from across the 32 NCAA Division-I conferences; for the NEC, this is massive. Wallace spoke on what this meant for the conference as he prepared for the postseason push, exclaiming, "As a competitor, I want to go out there and be one of the best of the best. As a person who is not as tall as my competitors, I feel as if the odds are stacked against me sometimes. I hope the NEC sees the Mount as a threat and that we are here to compete. People like Jason Fitch, Jonah Hancock, Griffin Distler, we are here to stay and put the Mount on the map."

With the winter sports postseason approaching quite rapidly, now comes the time of reflection and what will give athletes that extra push of confidence or grit to make it to the finish line of what has been a grueling, long, and taxing season for many. For the sophomore sensation, he will be tapping into his already successful postseason run from the 2022 NEC Swimming & Diving Championships. "I am hoping through my experience at NEC’s and throughout the season that I can use that towards all my events going forward. I am honored that I can go out and swim my heart out for the Mount. When I came here, I just wanted to put the Mount on the map as best I could. Hopefully, from what I was able to do, this will bring in faster swimmers."

There is no doubt that tagging an accolade that carries this much weight will do wonders in terms of recruiting. It is a linear trend across the sports world, no matter what level of intercollegiate athletics, that if there is an athlete who qualifies for NCAA’s, the recruiting for the following academic and athletic year shows a steady increase. This potential recruiting increase can be attributed to many factors; however, one reason in particular that separates itself from the rest is that if prospective athletes see this level of success, then it will motivate them to think, ‘maybe I can do it as well.’

On paper, it might seem that Wallace’s success was out of the blue; however, he has a long rap sheet of success in the pool. At the 2021 NEC Swimming & Diving Championships in Carlisle, PA, Wallace shattered the Mount St. Mary’s school record in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, in times of 53.88 and 2:01.30, respectively. He found his name in the record books once again at the 2021 Championships in the 400 Medley Relay, in a record time of 3:24.11. Wallace was joined by teammates Ethan Pham, Nicholas Santorelli and Ryan Girffiths.

When looking at how Wallace stacks up historically against some of the greatest Mount St. Mary’s swimmers, he certainly holds his own. According to the official record books via the university’s athletic website, Wallace has his name on five of the school’s top-10 all-time lists.

This was the program’s first ever qualifier for the NCAA Division-I Swimming & Diving Championships. The program began at Mount St. Mary’s back in 2016. Due to the sheer novice nature of the program, it makes this accomplishment that much more special.

Despite qualifying on time for the NCAA Championships, Wallace was not selected for the field of competition at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, GA. The championships will be held from Mar. 23-26. The University of Texas-Austin are the defending champions, as they captured their record 15th-straight NCAA Division-I Championship.

Reverting back to a local level, Wallace and his teammates capped off their season at the 2022 CSCAA National Invitational Championships. The 2022 championships were held at the Beacon Health Aquatic Center in Elkhart, IN. The qualification to the 2022 CSCAA National Invitational Championships will be the first time since the 2018-19 season that Mount St. Mary’s has qualified an athlete for this competition.